Apparatus and method for memorization poker

ABSTRACT

New apparatuses and methods for introducing varying levels of skill into wagering games that have historically been games of luck or strategy are provided. A card value and suit is invisible to the player initially and associated with a value and suit dealt to the player. The game enables the player to elect to display the associated value and suit. If the player exercises the option, the associated value and suit is displayed and a poker or blackjack evaluation is made based on the displayed associated value and suit. In various embodiments, the same associations are maintained for a single hand or play, multiple hands or plays or on a long term fixed basis. Associated symbols are also implemented with the game of slot.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains or maycontain material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyrightowner has no objection to the photocopy reproduction by anyone of thepatent document or the patent disclosure in exactly the form it appearsin the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwisereserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to gaming devices and morespecifically to the wagering games requiring player inputs.

Wagering machines in most jurisdictions are games of luck, not skill.For instance, slot machines owe at least some of their popularity to thefact that an amateur, novice or inexperienced player can play most slotmachines at the player's own pace, with no required skills, strategy (orvery little strategy) or risk evaluation and perform as well as theseasoned or experienced game player. Most slot machines are set to payback on average between eighty and ninety-nine percent of the amountthat the player's wager. These payouts are randomly determined.Nevertheless, players constantly try to inject skill, know-how orstrategy into gaming devices with the hope of turning the odds in theirfavor.

Other gaming devices include luck and a fair amount of strategy orknowledge of the game. Video poker and blackjack are two games thatrequire luck and strategy. The player is lucky to receive four aces inpoker. The player should also know that is unwise to forgothree-of-a-kind to play for a straight in poker or split two ten's inblackjack.

Certain wagering gaming devices are required to involve skill ordexterity. These games cannot turn purely upon the luck of the player.Skill games present certain general problems to the game implementor.First, skill games can be mastered by players having a high level ofskill, a lot of practice or both. Second, to combat mastering, gamingdevice manufacturers may have to make the skill game relativelydifficult for the economics to work. The difficulty level may be toogreat for average players to experience a sufficient level of successand enjoyment.

Skill games, on the other hand, are interactive and typically enjoyableto play. A need exists therefore for a different, interactive andenjoyable game that can be played requiring skill. A need also existsfor a method of controlling a payout in a wagering game having skill sothat the game is relatively easy to win and enjoy and at the same timeeconomical and fiscally controllable, predictable and repeatable for thecasino.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an apparatus and method for introducingvarying levels of skill into wagering games that have historically beengames of luck or chance. To that end, the present invention provides amemorization element that is implemented into various wagering games,such as video poker, blackjack and slot. The implementation is via agaming device or live casino game.

In connection with poker, for example, the wagering game includes a deckof cards such as conventional deck of fifty-two cards. Each card of thedeck has multiple characteristics, such as a conventional deck, whereineach card includes a suit and value combination, e.g., a seven of heartsor king of spades. Each card also includes a masked or hidden suit andvalue combination. For example, the seven of hearts card could beassociated with the hidden or masked suit and value of the ace ofdiamonds. In one embodiment, the first or original suit and value isselected from a first set of cards or deck of cards. In anotherembodiment, the masked or hidden suit and value is selected from asecond set or deck of cards.

As used herein, the term “set” of cards is broader than “deck” of cards.A deck is typically fifty-two cards, thirteen each from the suits ofspades, clubs, diamonds and hearts. A deck can also include one or morejokers. A set includes a number or cards that is equal to, less than ormore than the cards provided in a standard deck.

The present invention provides a variety of different memorization gamesusing the associated symbol or symbol combinations. In one embodiment,every card in a deck of cards has a first value and suit combination,which is visible when the card is turned face up and a second value andsuit combination, associated with the first combination, which is notvisible until selected by the player. The memorization game is playedwith draw poker where the player typically exchanges all five cards(sometimes requiring one card to be an ace). The known draw poker gameis then modified so that the player either: (i) keeps a card as dealt;(ii) exchanges a card as is done in known draw poker; or (iii) replacesa first value and suit of one of the cards with its associated secondvalue and suit (assuming the player remembers the associated secondvalue and suit to be desirable).

In stud poker, the game allows the player an option to exchange thefirst value and suit combination with the associated second value andsuit combination for one of, a plurality of or all of either the studcards (dealt typically face up). Other poker embodiments are explainedbelow.

In blackjack, the player decides to take a “hit”, namely, to receive anadditional card, the value of which is added to the player's totaltowards twenty-one. Alternatively or additionally, the player in thepresent invention elects to exchange the first value and suitcombination of a dealt card for an associated second value and suitcombination. The first value is subtracted from the player's total,while the second value is added to the player's total. In an alternativeembodiment, the second value is added to the blackjack total but thefirst value is not subtracted. Other blackjack variations are discussedbelow.

In slot, second symbols (not displayed) are associated with firstsymbols that are displayed after a reel spin. With slot, the gamingdevice provides one or more displayed symbols that have associatedsecond symbols. On an active payline, for example, the player changesthe displayed symbol, e.g., by touching such symbol, so that anassociated second symbol is displayed instead. Such changing may createa winning combination along the active payline that did not existpreviously or upgrade an existing win that did exist previously. Otherslot variations are discussed below.

In the above-described embodiments, the player is generally providedwith an option to exchange or add or not exchange or add the associatedcombination or symbol. The decision is based largely on: (i) having anopportunity to exchange or add the associated symbol (e.g., optionprovided only if on active payline or only one time per poker hand);(ii) whether the player remembers that a displayed symbol or combinationhas an associated second symbol (e.g., in deck of cards only certaincards have associated values and suits, and player must remember suchcards); (iii) assuming the player remembers that a displayed symbol orcombination has an associated second symbol, whether the playerremembers what the associated symbol is; and (iv) assuming that thefirst three conditions are satisfied, whether it makes sense to add orexchange a displayed symbol or combination with an associated symbol orcombination.

With poker or blackjack, the present invention is implemented in videoor live form. If played as a casino table game at least two sets ordecks of cards are used, one normal deck (face and covered back) and oneassociation deck (face and face). The association deck includes cardsdisplaying on one side one of each of the first combinations of valuesand suits that are displayed likewise individually on the faces of thecards of the normal set or deck. On the other side of the cards of theassociation deck are the second, associated combination of values andsuits. The association deck is laid out so that the player and house cansee the first combinations of values and suits but not the associatedsecond combinations.

Depending upon whether a poker evaluation is made via adding theassociated card or replacing the first card with the associated card,the dealer when asked either flips and adds the association card to theplayer's total or flips and replaces the initially dealt card with theassociation card. Thereafter, a poker evaluation is made based, at leastin part, on the value and suit of the association card. A similar tablegame for blackjack is discussed below.

The second suit and number combinations are associated with the cards orthe first suit and number combinations in a variety of ways, i.e., for avariety of amounts of time or plays. In one embodiment, the associationslast for a single play, e.g., a single hand, a single blackjack game, asingle spin of the reels, etc. In that single hand embodiment, theplayer's ability to memorize the associations (second combination basedon the first combination) is limited. The single hand or play embodimentis mainly a game of luck.

In another embodiment, the associations last for a multiple plays, forexample, e.g., for multiple hands of poker, multiple blackjack games,multiple spins of slot machine reels or until an event occurs, such asthe player cashing out or running out of tokens. In the event the playerruns out of tokens, the gaming device can maintain the associations fora given time period such as one minute, to enable the player to reinsertadditional coins or tokens. In another example, the same associationsare maintained until a player removes the player's tracking card fromthe machine. The multiple play embodiment provides a game with manydynamics. First, it injects a level of skill into games that are gamesof luck (slot) and luck and strategy (poker and blackjack). Second theability to make associations provide an incentive for the player tocontinue gaming.

In a further embodiment, the associations are long term, e.g., remainconstant as long as the gaming device sits on the floor or for theforeseeable future in table gaming. For a table game, the associationscan last, for example, until a deck of cards becomes worn. A new deckthen has different associations (although new decks can have the sameassociations alternatively). With slot, the associations last until anew game is installed, a software update is made or until a new game isdownloaded into an existing memory device in various embodiments. Thelength of the long term or other associations may be randomly determinedor predetermined.

The long term associations inject a relatively high amount of skill intothe games of luck and strategy. It would be possible for a playerplaying such a game to completely memorize the associations or even tohave a crib sheet setting forth the combinations. The key in the longterm association game is recognition of the fact that the payer isessentially playing two games at once, one with the initially displayedfirst set of symbols and a second with the associated symbols.

In another embodiment of the present invention, multiple sets or decksof cards are used for central determination gaming. Centraldetermination gaming is employed by the assignee of the presentinvention and is described in co-pending application Ser. Nos.10/261,744, 10/371,722, 10/371,723, 10/371,958, 10/442,318, 10/383,423,10/431,755, 10/601,482, 07/988,429 and 09/706,293, the teachings ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference. In central determination,individual game terminals receive randomly generated outcomes fromcentral or server processors. For example, in slot each symbol has aprobability of being displayed on the reels after the reels have beenspun. The odds of any particular symbol combination being displayed whenthe reels stop spinning is therefore a combination of the componentsymbols. In known gaming, the player's outcome is determined randomly bythe combination of symbols generated.

With central determination the outcome is generated randomly at the hostcomputer and a set of symbols yielding the outcome is displayed at thegaming terminal. Central determination provides the player with acombination of symbols that appears to generate the generated outcome.For games of pure luck, such symbol generation is facilitated readilybecause the player has no control. With games like poker, however, whichrequire a degree of strategy and decision making, providing the symbolsnecessary to generate a previously, randomly determined outcome canbecome tricky.

Draw poker, in particular, can yield tricky situations for central orpre-determination. Suppose the player's outcome is generated to be fouraces. The player must receive four aces. Suppose the game deals theplayer two aces initially. One ace is the ace of spades and the other isthe ace of diamonds. Suppose also that the other three cards are spades.The player may decide to discard the ace of diamonds attempting toachieve a flush. With a single deck, four aces is now impossible. Thepresent invention remedies the situation through the use of two decks ofcards. Here, even if the player discards the ace of diamonds, the gamecan replenish the player's hand with three additional aces. Importantly,there needs to be enough additional cards, in relation to the totalnumber of cards in the player's hand, to cover any contingency.

In one draw poker embodiment, all winning cards of a predetermined andcentrally determined hand are dealt face-up and initially. That preventsthe player from keeping losing cards, precluding the player fromobtaining the winning cards from a draw. If the player discards any ofthe initially dealt face-up cards, the gaming device or initialprocessor provides another winning card in the draw to yield ultimatelythe predetemined win. For example, if a royal flush is randomlypredetermined for and dealt initially to player, and the playerfoolishly discards the king for a draw card, the king of the same suitis provided to the player from the draw and from the second deck ofcards. In that way, the player wins the randomly predetermined result,e.g., the royal flush regardless of the discarded winning card.

It is therefore an advantage of the present invention to provideentertaining and exciting poker games.

It another advantage of the present invention to provide entertainingand exciting blackjack games.

It is a further advantage of the present invention to provideentertaining and exciting slot games.

It is still another advantage of the present invention to provideentertaining and exciting video wagering games.

It is still a further advantage of the present invention to provideentertaining and exciting casino table games.

It is yet another advantage of the present invention to provideentertaining memorization wagering games.

It is yet a further advantage of the present invention to provideentertaining recognition wagering games.

Moreover, it is an advantage of the present invention to provide a newtype of playing card.

Still further, it is an advantage of the present invention to provide anew type of slot machine symbol.

Yet further, it is an advantage of the present invention to providemultiple sets of cards that are operable with concentration poker.

Additional features and advantages of the present invention aredescribed in, and will be apparent from, the following DetailedDescription of the Invention and the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective views of alternative embodiments of thegaming device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the electronic configuration of oneembodiment of the gaming device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an elevation view of one of the display devices showing asimulated version of the multi-faced cards of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are elevations views of a display device illustratingone possible embodiment for employing the multi-faced cards in thepresent invention with the game of draw poker.

FIG. 5 is a non-inclusive variations on the games described inconnection with FIGS. 4A and 4B.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are elevation views of one of the display devices of thepresent invention showing another embodiment of a draw poker gameemploying the multi-faced cards of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a non-inclusive variations of the games described inconnection with FIGS. 6A and 6B.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are elevation views of one of the display devices of thepresent invention showing various embodiments of a blackjack gameemploying the multi-faced cards of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a non-inclusive chart of other variations of the blackjackgames illustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8B.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are elevation views of one of the display devices ofthe present invention showing the game of slot in combination with themulti-symbols of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a non-inclusive chart of variations of the game of slot ofFIGS. 10A and 10B.

FIG. 12 illustrates perspective and elevation views of a set of physicalplaying cards and a physical association deck of playing cards of thepresent invention.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a portion of a gaming table employingthe physical association cards of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a non-inclusive chart of different variations of the gamesemploying the physical association cards of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a non-inclusive chart of different durations or periods ofassociations between displayed symbols and hidden symbols of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 16 and 17 are elevation views of one of the display devices of thepresent invention showing a draw poker game with central determinationoutcomes that uses multiple decks of cards.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention includes apparatus and methods that allow acontrolled degree of skill to be implemented in various gaming devices,casino table games, internet wagering games and wagering gamesimplemented via a computer memory storage device, a database or networksuch as a wide area network (“WAN”) or local area network (“LAN”). Thepresent invention is implemented in a variety of wagering games, such aspoker, blackjack or slot. When implemented in a gaming device,regardless of the type of game, the device has certain common featuresthat are now described.

Referring now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1A and 1B,gaming device 10 a and gaming device 10 b illustrate two possiblecabinet styles and display arrangements and are collectively referred toherein as gaming device 10. The gaming device of the present inventionhas the controls, displays and features of a conventional gamingmachine. In various embodiments, the player operates gaming device 10while standing or sitting. Gaming device 10 is alternatively a pub-styleor table-top game (not shown), which a player preferably operates whilesitting.

Gaming device 10, in certain embodiments, includes any suitablesecondary or bonus triggering events, secondary bonus games as well asany progressive game coordinating with the primary or secondary games.As described below, the memorization game of the present invention maybe implemented as a primary or bonus game. Gaming device 10 alsoincludes the symbols and indicia used for any of the base, bonus andprogressive games. The symbols and indicia are mechanical, electronic,electrical video-based and any combination thereof.

Gaming device 10 includes monetary input devices. FIGS. 1A and 1Billustrate a coin slot 12 for coins or tokens and/or a payment acceptor14 for cash money. The payment acceptor 14 also includes other devicesfor accepting payment, such as readers or validators for credit cards,debit cards or smart cards, tickets, notes, etc. When a player insertsmoney in gaming device 10, a number of credits corresponding to theamount deposited is shown in a credit display 16. After depositing theappropriate amount of money, a player begins the game by pulling arm 18(FIG. 1B) or pushing play or deal button 20. Play or deal button 20includes any play activator (e.g., remote controller) used by theplayer, which starts any game or sequence of events in the gamingdevice.

As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, gaming device 10 also includes a betdisplay 22 and a bet one button 24. The player places a bet by pushingthe bet one button 24. The player increases the bet by one credit eachtime the player pushes the bet one button 24. When the player pushes thebet one button 24, the number of credits shown in the credit display 16decreases by one, and the number of credits shown in the bet display 22increases by one. The player cashes out by pushing a cash out button 26to receive coins or tokens in the coin payout tray 28 or other forms ofpayment, such as an amount printed on a ticket or credited to a creditcard, debit card or smart card. Ticket printing and card reading devices(not illustrated) are known by and commercially available to those ofskill in the art.

Gaming device 10 also includes one or more display devices. Theembodiment shown in FIG. 1A includes a central display device 30, andthe alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 1B includes a central displaydevice 30 as well as an upper display device 32. The display devicesinclude any suitable viewing surface, such as glass, a video monitor(e.g., liquid crystal display), a mechanical display, anelectromechanical display, or any other static or dynamic displaymechanism and any combination of those devices.

As illustrated in FIG. 1A, gaming device 10 a is a video poker orblackjack machine that displays a number of cards 34. Cards 34 are dealtface up or face down as necessary. Memorization poker and memorizationblackjack using cards 34 is described in detail below.

In FIG. 1B, gaming device 10 b is a video slot machine that displays anumber of reels 134. The slot machine base game of gaming device 10displays a plurality of reels 134, such as three to five reels 134, invideo form on one or more of the display devices. Each reel 134 displaysa plurality of indicia, such as bells, hearts, fruits, numbers, letters,bars or other images or symbols that can correspond to a themeassociated with gaming device 10. Memorization slot using reels 134 isdescribed in detail below.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a general electronic configuration of gamingdevice 10 includes in one embodiment: a processor or central processingunit (“CPU”) 38; a memory device 40 for storing program code or otherdata; a central display device 30; an upper display device 32; a soundcard 42; a plurality of speakers 36 for making sounds and/or playingmusic; and one or more input devices 44. The processor 38 is amicroprocessor or microcontroller-based platform in one embodiment,which is capable of displaying images, symbols and other indicia such asimages of playing cards, people, characters, objects, places and things.

Memory device 40 includes random access memory (“RAM”) 46 for storingevent data or other data generated or used during a particular game.Memory device 40 also includes read only memory (“ROM”) 48 for storingprogram code, which controls gaming device 10 so that it plays aparticular game in accordance with applicable game rules and paytables.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the player uses input devices 44 to inputsignals into gaming device 10. As illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, thevarious embodiments of gaming device 10 share certain common inputdevices 44, such as a play or deal button 20, bet one button 24 and thecash out button 26. In poker, input devices 44 include specific inputssuch as a draw input device or a keep/hold input device (notillustrated). In slot, for example, input devices 44 include the pullarm 18 (FIG. 1B).

As illustrated in FIG. 2, a touch screen 50 and touch screen controller52 are connected to a video controller 54 and processor 38. In certaininstances, it is preferable to use a touch screen 50 and an associatedtouch screen controller 52 instead of a conventional video monitordisplay device and electromechanical input devices 44. Touch screen 50enables a player to input decisions into the gaming device 10 by sendinga discrete signal based on the area of the touch screen 50 that theplayer touches or presses.

As further illustrated in FIG. 2, processor 38 connects to the coin slot12 or payment acceptor 14. Gaming device 10 requires a player to deposita certain amount of money to start and play the associated wageringgame.

It should be appreciated that although a processor 38 and memory device40 are one implementation of the present invention, the presentinvention can also be implemented via one or more application-specificintegrated circuits (ASIC's), one or more hard-wired devices, or one ormore mechanical devices. Furthermore, although the processor 38 andmemory device 40 reside in each gaming device 10 unit, the presentinvention provides some or all of their functions at a central locationsuch as a network server for communication to a playing station as overa LAN, WAN, Internet connection, microwave link, and the like. Forexample, in a central determination implementation of the presentinvention, gaming device 10 receives inputs from an external processor.Hereafter “processor” refers to any of the above-described processingalternatives.

The terms “computer” or “controller” are used herein to refercollectively to the processor 38, the memory device 40, the sound card42, the touch screen controller 52 and the video controller 54. Memorydevice 40 may also be implemented remotely or via a recorded medium,such as a diskette, remote drive or tape.

Gaming device 10 also includes bonus games. Different triggering eventsin the primary games trigger the bonus games. In poker, the triggeringevent could be a particular hand or card that is dealt to the player. Inslot, the triggering event can be a particular symbol or symbolcombination generated on a display device or active payline 56 (FIG.1B).

Referring now to FIG. 3, one of the display devices 30 or 32 discussedabove with connection with FIGS. 1A and 1B displays a virtual card setof multi-faced cards 80 (cards 80 refers collectively to cards 80 a, 80b, 80 c . . . ) of the present invention. The present invention isimplemented virtually as shown in FIG. 3 or in a live casino as a tablegame discussed later in connection with FIGS. 12 to 14. In oneembodiment, the set of multi-faced cards 80 is a deck of multi-facedcards. A deck, as that term is used herein, includes a standard deck offifty-two playing cards and may or may not include one or more jokers.

Each multi-faced card, such as multi-faced card 80 a, is asuper-position of two cards from separate sets or decks of cards 60 and70. Set of cards 60 is a set of displayed cards. FIG. 3 illustratesdisplayed card 60 a, which is the four of diamonds. If flipped over,displayed card 60 a would display any type of standard indicia for theface-down side of a playing card. In various embodiments herein,displayed cards 60 may be dealt face up or face down. When dealt faceup, displayed card 60 displays a first value and suit combination of themulti-faced card 80 associated with the displayed card 60. For example,displayed card 60 a includes a value of four and a suit of diamonds,which is the first value and suit associated with multi-faced card 80 a.If dealt face down, displayed card 60 a would display some sort ofmasking indicia.

A hidden card 70 a is generated from a hidden set or deck of cards 70and provides a second value and suit combination for multi-faced card 80a. Hidden card 70 a is associated with displayed card 60 a to create themulti-faced card 80 a. For purposes of illustration, the hidden set ofcards 70 and the hidden card 70 a, are illustrated in phantom indicatingthat, in reality, display device 30 or 32 does not actually initiallyshow hidden card 70 a in association with displayed card 60 a to createcard 80 a.

The present invention associates a plurality of hidden cards from hiddenset 70 with a plurality of displayed cards from set 60 individually tocreate a set of multi-faced cards 80. The number of multi-faced cards 80does not have to equal the number of displayed cards 60. For example, ifthe set of displayed cards 60 comprises a full deck of cards, somenumber less than fifty-two hidden cards 70 may be associated with thatsame number less than fifty-two of displayed cards 60 to create a set ofmulti-faced cards 80 having less than fifty-two cards. A card game maytherefore be played where certain displayed cards 60 are associated withhidden cards 70 (i.e., as multi-faced cards 80) and where otherdisplayed cards 60 are not associated with hidden cards 70 and thus arenot multi-faced cards 80.

The multi-faced cards 80 are used to inject additional luck or varyinglevels of skill into games of luck, such as slot, or games of luck andstrategy, such as poker and blackjack (a slot embodiment is disclosedbelow with multi-symbols as opposed to multi-faced cards). A gameemploying the multi-faced cards 80 is responsive to a player's electionof an option to have a hidden card used in the game. To that end, inputdevices are provided or the video monitor 30 or 32 operates with atouchscreen so that the player can select to view the hidden card 70instead of, or in addition to, the displayed card 60.

Although not illustrated, the present invention can associate aplurality of different hidden cards from different sets of hidden cards,such as set 70, with one of the displayed cards 60. That is, one or moreof the displayed cards 60 is associated with a plurality of hidden cardsfrom different sets of hidden cards. The four of diamonds displayed tothe player, for example, can be associated with the eight of hearts fromone set of cards and the nine of clubs from another set of cards. Insuch a case, gaming device 10 provides a multitude of input devices 44or a multitude of selectable touch screen areas that allow the player toselect one or more of the hidden cards 70 associated with the displayedcard 60.

Referring now to FIGS. 4A and 4B, one of the display devices 30 or 32illustrates a draw poker embodiment that incorporates a singlemulti-faced card 80 a with a plurality of displayed cards 60 b to 60 e.An electromechanical or simulated draw button 62 enables the player toexchange one or more of the cards with the same number of draw cards. Anaudio, visual or audio-visual message 64 is provided that informs theplayer to touch, in the illustrated case, up to five cards to beexchanged with draw cards.

An electromechanical or simulated input device 66 allows the player toactivate the hidden card 70 a, associated with the displayed card 60 a,in the game. As discussed in more detail below, activating the hiddencard 70 a occurs either in place of or in addition to the displayed card60 a.

FIG. 4A also includes an electromechanical or simulated input device 68that allows the player, for a price, to preview the hidden card 70 aassociated with the displayed card 60 a without committing to activatingthe hidden card 70 a. The games of the present invention are structuredin one embodiment so that the associations between hidden cards anddisplayed cards are maintained over a number of plays or hands. Theplayer can therefore learn which hidden card is associated with whichdisplayed card, enabling the player to employ skill in deciding toselect the hidden button 66. Presumably, the player makes such selectionwhen hidden card 70 a will benefit the player in some manner. The peekbutton 68, on the other hand, enables the player to see, for a price,the hidden card 70 a associated with displayed card 60 a before decidingwhether to commit to activating hidden card 70 a. The player may wish towager an additional amount, such as one credit, to see the value or suitof hidden card 70 a rather than risk an award currently produced in partvia displayed card 60 a.

FIG. 4B illustrates that when the player selects the activate hiddenbutton 66, the displayed card 60 a, namely, the four of diamonds, isreplaced by the initially hidden card 70 a, namely, the eight of hearts(that association is illustrated above in FIG. 3). In an alternativeembodiment discussed herein, hidden card 70 a is displayed in additionto, rather than in place of, displayed card 60 a.

Referring now to FIG. 5, variations of the draw poker game having asingle multi-faced card 80 a shown in FIG. 4A are discussed. In a firstvariation of the draw poker game of FIG. 4A, the player is enabled toexchange displayed card 60 a with hidden card 70 a and then either canor cannot thereafter replace card 70 a with a draw card. In a typicalvideo draw poker game, the player is dealt five cards face up and thenallowed to change varying amounts of cards (in varying machines), up toall five cards. The multi-faced card 80 a in FIG. 4A in the firstvariation of FIG. 5 is activated so that the player can replace hiddencard 70 a once activated with a draw card if desired. Alternatively, theplayer cannot replace hidden card 70 a once it is activated.

Variation two can be implemented with either version of variation oneand involves allowing or not allowing the player to select a draw cardto replace displayed card 60 a. That is, the player may or may not beable to obtain a new draw card instead of either keeping displayed card60 a or viewing hidden card 70 a. The player may, for example, rememberthe value and/or suit of card 70 a, realize that such value and/or suitis not advantageous with respect to the value and suit of card 60 a andelect instead to exchange displayed card 60 a with a new draw card. Theplayer may further elect to keep displayed card 60 a if such card isdesirable.

As stated above, the hidden card 70 a may be displayed in place ofdisplayed card 60 a or in addition to displayed card 60 a. It should beappreciated that if all other variables of the draw poker game are keptconstant, there would be little disincentive, if any, for the player notto select button 66 to activate hidden card 70 a in addition to theremainder of the player's hand. When card 70 a is displayed in additionto displayed card 60 a, there is preferably some disincentive or riskassociated with obtaining the additional card. Variation three providesone possible risk, wherein the player forfeits the ability to exchangeone, or more or all of the displayed cards 60 a to 60 e for draw cardswhen the player activates hidden card 70 a as an additional card.

Variation four indicates that different numbers of displayed cards 60can be provided in combination with the single multi-faced card 80 a.For example, six displayed cards 60 b through 60 g (not illustrated) areprovided in combination with card 80 a to play a seven card draw game.It should be appreciated that, although not illustrated, differentamounts of displayed cards 60 and different amounts of multi-faced cards80 can be provided in an stud poker game, wherein the player is not ableto exchange cards for draw cards.

Variation five illustrates that one or more of the displayed cards 60 bto 60 e can be a wild card in accordance with the standard meaning of“wild card” as is known in the art. Alternatively, or in addition to oneor more of the displayed cards 60 b to 60 e being wild cards, displayedcard 60 a of multi-faced card 80 a and/or hidden card 70 a canadditionally or alternatively be wild.

In a further alternative embodiment illustrated in variation six, one ormore of the draw cards is a multi-faced card 80 having a displayed cardand an associated hidden card. In variation 7, the draw poker game ofFIGS. 4A and 4B may or may not provide a peek option selection 68, whichcosts the player a certain price, such as one credit. The peek optionenables the player to see the hidden card 70 a before activating thehidden card via button 66. Selecting the activate button 66 commits thehidden card 70 a to be part of the ultimate poker evaluation.

In a further alternative embodiment highlighted by variation eight, oneor more of the cards 60 b to 60 e is dealt initially face down so thatthe player cannot see the value and suit of such one or more cards. Theplayer can, for example, see the values and suits of cards 60 b and 60 cbut not cards 60 d and 60 e initially. The player then determineswhether to activate the multi-faced card 80 a based on face-up displayedcards 60 b and 60 c.

A “do not activate” button (not illustrated) can also be provided sothat gaming device 10 can be informed if the player decides not toactivate hidden card 70 a, or after gaming device 10 reveals the valuesand suits of initially face-down cards 60 d and 60 e. The pokervaluation can be made after that reveal or the game can provide a drawsequence, wherein the player selects one or more of the cards to beexchanged with the draw card. In an alternative embodiment, the playermust activate hidden card 70 a prior to making any draw selections, sothat selection of draw button 62 indicates that the player hasdetermined whether or not to activate card 70 a.

Referring now to FIGS. 6A and 6B, an alternative draw poker game isillustrated wherein a plurality of the cards or all of the cards aremulti-faced cards 80. For purposes of illustration, three of the cards,namely cards 80 a, 80 b and 80 c are illustrated as multi-faced cards.The remaining cards, namely, 60 d and 60 e are displayed cards that arenot associated with hidden cards. The present invention expresslycontemplates, however, associating all cards 60 a to 60 e with a hiddencard 70 a to 70 e, respectively.

The display device 30 or 32 of FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrates many of thesame components shown above in FIGS. 4A and 4B. The display includes adraw button 62, audio, visual, or audio-visual message 64 and aplurality of hidden card activation buttons 66. FIG. 6A also shows aplurality of peek buttons 68. In the illustrated embodiment, each of themulti-faced cards 80 is associated with a separate activate and peekbutton. In an alternative embodiment, one or both of those buttons isprovided only once on display device 30 or 32. In such a case, theplayer presses the desired button and then the desired card or viceversa. For example, to activate multi-faced card 80 a, the player wouldselect the activate hidden button 66 and then select multi-faced card 80a.

FIG. 6B illustrates that the player has selected to activate multi-facedcards 80 b and 80 c. Accordingly, multi-faced card 80 a still displaysthe initially displayed card 60 a, while the multi-faced cards 80 b and80 c display the hidden cards 70 b and 70 c, respectively. The displayedcard 60 b, namely, the ace of spades (FIG. 6A), has been replaced withhidden card 70 b, namely, the five of hearts (FIG. 6B). The displayedcard 60 c, namely the ten of spades, has been replaced by the hiddencard 70 c, namely, the three of clubs. The display of the hidden cards70 b and 70 c has created a winning combination known as a straight,which is the accumulation of five consecutive numbers of values, herethe values two through six.

FIG. 6B has removed the peek buttons 60 a for multi-faced cards 80 b and80 c since this function is no longer applicable to the hidden cards 70b and 70 c, which are now displayed. Peek button 60 a still exists formulti-faced card 80 a. Gaming device 10 in one embodiment enables theplayer to activate one or more of the multi-faced cards and thenexercise the peek option for one or more of the displayed cards. Itshould therefore be appreciated that at the stage of the game in FIG.6B, the player is still able to activate multi-faced card 80 a if theplayer so desires. Otherwise, in draw poker, the player can select oneor more cards to exchange for draw cards in accordance with theembodiments described below in connection with FIG. 7. Further, althoughnot illustrated, a keep button can be provided so that the player cankeep the straight winning combination illustrated in FIG. 6B withoutdrawing or exchanging a single one of the cards of the straight.

FIG. 7 illustrates certain of the variations that are possible with thedraw poker game of FIGS. 6A and 6B. It should be appreciated that thelists associated with FIGS. 5 and 7 are non-inclusive and are not in anyway intended to limit the scope of the claims of the present invention.Variation one of FIG. 7 illustrates that, in different embodiments,gaming device 10 can limit the player to selecting only one or apercentage of the available multi-faced cards. For example, if theplayer activated multi-faced card 80 b, the player could be precludedfrom activating either of multi-faced cards 80 a or 80 b. In that way,the player has to pick and choose which of the hidden cards 70, if any,should be activated. The present invention includes, on the other hand,enabling the player to activate all of the provided multi-faced cards80.

Variation two in connection with FIG. 7 illustrates that in differentembodiments, the player can or cannot replace an activated hidden cardwith a draw card. The present invention also includes limiting theplayer to replacing with draw cards only one or a percentage of thehidden cards that have been activated. In a further alternativeembodiment, gaming device 10 enables the player to replace all activatedhidden cards with draw cards.

In variation four of FIG. 7, gaming device 10 in one embodiment does notallow the player to replace displayed cards 60 d and 60 e with a drawcard if the player activates one or more of the hidden cards. In analternative embodiment, gaming device 10 limits the player to replacingless than all of the displayed cards 60 d and 60 e with a draw card ifthe player activates one or more of the hidden cards. Furtheralternatively, gaming device 10 enables the player to replace each ofthe displayed cards 60 d and 60 e in the event that the player activatesone or more of the hidden cards 70 a to 70 c.

In variation five of FIG. 7, any suitable combination of multi-facedcards 80 and displayed cards 60 can be provided. For example, cards 80and 60 totaling seven in any combination can be provided for the game ofseven-card-draw poker. In variation six, one or more of the values ofthe displayed cards 60 or hidden cards 70 is a value designating thecard as a wild card as is known in connection with poker.

In variation seven, one or more of the cards 60 d or 60 e is dealt facedown. In variation eight, one or more of the draw cards can or cannot bea multi-faced card 80. Variation nine illustrates that the buy a peekfunction is operable with one of, a percentage or plurality of or all ofthe multi-faced cards 80.

In any of the embodiments described herein, gaming device 10 can providehints to the player that guide or tend to guide the player towardsoptional game play. The hints can vary in helpfulness from being vaguelyhelpful, e.g., “haven't you seen that card before” to being extremelyexplicit, e.g., “the four of diamonds you see is associated with theeight of hearts.” In certain embodiments, gaming device is programmed togenerate hints randomly or after a number of unsuccessful and/ornon-optional plays by the player. Further, gaming device 10 can presetor generate randomly the level of helpfulness of the hints, e.g., threevague hints followed by an explicit hint or an implicit hint weighted tooccur randomly one-third of the time.

As discussed above, the multi-faced cards of the present invention areoperable with a multitude of different card games. FIGS. 8A to 9illustrate the application of multi-faced cards 80 to the game ofblackjack. FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate the display device 30, 32 having ablackjack game, wherein a hand that is dealt to the house and to theplayer. The standard deck of cards is used to supply the displayed cards60. As in known blackjack, the dealer deals card 60 a to the player faceup and card 60 b to the dealer face down. The dealer then deals card 60c to the player face up and then the card 60 d to the dealer face up.The player then decides whether to take one or more card “hits” or stickwith the cards 60 a and 60 c. In FIG. 8A, the player decides that theplayer's total of three or thirteen will not likely defeat the house, sothe player decides to take a hit, wherein gaming device 10 generatesmulti-faced card 80 e, which includes displayed card 60 e, namely, thethree of spades.

In FIG. 8B, the player activates multi-faced card 80 e, in this case byselecting the displayed card 60 e, which results in the replacement ofthe displayed card 60 e with the hidden card 70 e. In alternativeembodiments discussed below, the hidden card 70 e is displayed inaddition to the display of card 60 e. Also discussed below, theassociation between displayed card 60 e and hidden card 70 e can be suchthat the player can learn and memorize the fact that the three of spacesas shown in FIG. 8A is associated with the eight of clubs shown in FIG.8B. The player, therefore, gladly selects the displayed card 60 e inFIG. 8A to achieve the blackjack in FIG. 8B.

Referring now to FIG. 9, a non-inclusive list of variations forblackjack is shown. Again, the list of FIG. 9 is in no way intended tolimit the scope of the present invention but instead illustrates thatthe multi-faced cards of the present invention lend themselves to beapplied to many different games in many different ways. Variation oneillustrates that the value of hidden card 70 e is added to the player'sblackjack total, either in place of or in addition to the value of thedisplayed card 60 e. In the above example, if the value of eight isadded to the player's total along with the value of displayed card 60 e,the player achieves the total of fourteen. Fourteen is the sum of thetwo of hearts, the ace of diamonds which has to be counted as one toavoid a bust, the three of spades of displayed card 60 e, and the eightof clubs of hidden card 70 e.

Variation 2 of FIG. 9 illustrates alternative embodiments wherein hiddencard 70 e can or cannot be activated to reverse a bust caused bydisplayed card 60 e. In one preferred embodiment, the multi-faced card80 e cannot be activated to reverse a bust because to allow such wouldrender the decision of whether or not to activate hidden card 70 e ofmulti-faced card 80 e moot. That is, the player who has busted hasnothing to lose by activating the associated hidden card in an attemptto reverse the bust.

Variation 3 illustrates that in one embodiment, the activation of hiddencard 70 e results in an automatic stick. That is, the player can nolonger accept a hit from either the deck of displayed cards 60 ormulti-faced cards 80. The embodiment operates similar to a“double-down”, which is a blackjack option enabling a player afterobtaining two cards to double the player's bet. With blackjackdouble-downs, the player receives one additional card only.

Variation 4 of the game of blackjack illustrates that one or both theinitially dealt cards 60 a and 60 c is alternatively a multi-faced card80 a or 80 c that is associated respectively with hidden cards 70 a and70 c. The one or more initially dealt multi-faced cards is providedalternatively or in addition to multi-faced card 80 e. That is, theinitially dealt cards 60 a and 60 c can be associated with hidden cardsand one or more of the player's hit cards can alternatively be simply adisplayed card that is not associated with a hidden card. Furtheralternatively, any one or more hit cards can be associated with a hiddencard. The determination of whether to associate a hidden card with theplayer's hit cards can be random or be determined according to apredefined pattern. Further, the decision of whether to associate ahidden card with one of the initially displayed cards 60 a and 60 c isalso determined in alternative embodiments either randomly or accordingto a predefined pattern.

Variation 5 of FIG. 9 illustrates that the dealer alternatively obtainsone, or more, or all multi-faced cards 80. That is, either displayedcard 60 b or 60 d or both is associated with a hidden card 70 b and 70d, respectively. Further, any of the dealer's hit cards is alsoalternatively a multi-faced card 80.

Variation 6 of FIG. 9 illustrates that gaming device 10 alternativelyenables or does not enable the player to split a pair of multi-facedcards 80. Variation 7 illustrates that if the player receives amulti-faced card on a double-down (described above), the hidden card isauto-activated to replace or add to the player's total in alternativeembodiments. Further alternatively, gaming device 10 enables the playeron a double-down to choose to replace with or add hidden card 70 uponreceiving the multi-faced card 80. Still further alternatively, gamingdevice 10 does not enable the player to choose to either add or replacethe hidden card 70 on a double-down.

Variation 8 of FIG. 9 illustrates that the peek for a price button 68 isimplemented in one embodiment with the game of blackjack. The price ofthe peek is adjusted accordingly with the advantage given to the playervia such option.

Referring now to FIGS. 10A and 10B, multi-symbols 180 are illustrated inconnection with the game of slots. The slot embodiment is provided on avideo monitor 30 or 32, wherein the multi-symbol 180 a is activatedthrough the use of a touchscreen. In an alternative embodiment, hiddensymbols 170 associated with the displayed symbols of the multi-symbols180 (collectively referring to multi-symbol 180 a, 180 b, etc.) areactivated via electromechanical inputs 44.

FIG. 10A illustrates a slot machine having five reels 134 as is alsoillustrated in FIG. 1B. The multi-symbols 180 may be provided in a slotgame having any suitable number of reels, any suitable number ofpaylines, wherein the reels and paylines are situated in any suitabledesirable manner. For simplicity, the slot game of FIGS. 10A and 10B isshown having three horizontal paylines 56 a to 56 c. The slot screenillustrated in FIGS. 10A and 10B shows a random generation of symbolsthat has just taken place, yielding the “a,” “a,” “b,” “c,” and “d”combination along payline 56 b; the “e,” “f,” “e,” “g,” and “h”combination along payline 56 a; and the “i,” “j,” “i,” “k,” and “a”combination along payline 56 c in FIG. 10A.

In the illustrated embodiment, symbols 160 a, 160 c, 160 d, 160 e, 160g, 160 h, 160 j, and 160 k are each normal symbols that are displayedand are not associated with hidden symbols. Displayed symbols 160 b, 160f, and 160 i are, on the other hand, associated with symbols 170 a, 170e and 170 j, respectively, to form multi-symbols 180 a, 180 b, and 180c, respectively. FIG. 10B illustrates the outcome of the player'sselection of the multi-symbols 180 a, 180 b and 180 c.

In FIG. 10B, the player has activated each of the multi-symbols 180 a,180 b and 180 c. Such activation has led to the display of the hiddensymbol 170 a on payline 56 b, the hidden symbol 170 e on payline 56 aand the hidden symbol 170 j on payline 56 c. Each of the activationsillustrates a subtle difference in the operation of the associatedsymbols of the present invention in combination with slot.

Payline 56 b illustrates that if, for example, the previously generated“a, a” combination is already a winning combination, the activation of ahidden symbol, in this case hidden symbol 170 a, can add to a previouslyachieved win. The activation of the hidden symbol 170 e along payline 56a illustrates that a winning combination, namely the “e, e, e,”combination, can be created, where no winning combination existedbefore. That is, in FIG. 10A the symbol combination “e, f, e” alongpayline 56 a does not result in an award for the player.

The activation of hidden symbols 170 j along payline 56 c illustratesthat gaming device 10 in one embodiment enables the player to activatemultiple symbols along the same payline, even if two or more symbolsbear the same indicia. Alternative embodiments to that option arediscussed below.

Referring now to FIG. 11, a non-inclusive list of variations on the gameof slot employing the multi-symbols of the present invention isillustrated. As before, this list is in no way intended to limit thescope and breadth of the present invention and instead illustrates thatthe multi-symbols of the present invention are applicable in a widevariety of different gaming alternatives. It should also be appreciatedthat for purposes of claiming the present invention, the term“multi-symbol” includes the above-described term multi-faced card. Thatis, the term multi-symbol includes displayed and hidden symbols on aslot machine and also displayed and hidden symbols or variables (e.g.,value and suit) on the face of playing cards.

Variation 1 of FIG. 11 illustrates an alternative embodiment, whereinthe player is enabled to activate a hidden symbol 170 only on an activepayline. Slot machines offering multiple paylines often allow the playerto select one, or more or all of the paylines. Therefore as an incentivefor the player to activate more paylines, gaming device 10 in anembodiment only enables the multi-symbol feature to be activated on anactive payline.

Variation 2 of FIG. 11 illustrates that in a bonus embodiment of thepresent invention, the activation of a hidden symbol 170 on a previouslyinactive payline activates the aforementioned inactive payline. Bonusgames are popular particularly in association with the game of slot. Thelikelihood of obtaining a multi-symbol anywhere on display device 30 or32 can be set to be remote or relatively frequent according to gamemathematics. The achievement of the multi-symbol is provided to theplayer as a bonus in addition to any wins provided as a result of thestandard play of slots. The multi-symbol provided in a bonus embodimentis implemented in one embodiment so that if the multi-symbol appears onan inactive payline, gaming device 10 grants a bonus to the player andactivates such payline and provides any award associated on that paylinedue to activation of the associated hidden symbol.

Variation 3 of FIG. 11 illustrates that the player may or may not beallowed to activate multiple symbols on any given payline. As shownabove in connection with FIGS. 10A and 10B, the player activates twomulti-symbols along payline 56 c in order to obtain an award.Alternatively, gaming device 10 forces the player to choose between twoor more of the same or different multi-symbols 180. In a furtherembodiment, gaming device 10 enables the player to activate less thanall multi-symbols on a per screen basis rather than a per payline basis.

Variation 4 of FIG. 11 illustrates that a win for the player that isincreased due to the activation of the hidden symbol 170 is paidalternatively in different ways. In one embodiment, the player receivesthe award due to the increased win in place of the award due to theinitially generated winning symbols. In another embodiment, the awarddue to the increased win is paid in addition to the award paid due tothe win associated with the initially generated winning combination.

Discussed below and in connection with FIG. 15 are various embodimentsfor the durations with which any particular hidden symbol is associatedwith any particular displayed symbol. In one embodiment, the duration isa long term or even a fixed duration. In such a case, each time thedisplayed symbol 160 of the multi-symbol 180 is displayed, the hiddensymbol upon activation is the same. In such a case, gaming device 10 inone embodiment displays the fixed associations in the paytable of theslot machine. Older slot machines tend to place the paytable on theupper glass located above the reels. Newer slot machines having a largeramount of winning combinations of symbols often provide a screen thatthe player selectively accesses to view the possible winningcombinations for the slot machine. In either case, gaming device 10 ofthe present invention can post the displayed hidden symbol associations.

As discussed above in the Summary of the Invention section, the presentinvention can be implemented in virtual gaming on a video monitor or inlive gaming at the casino. FIGS. 1 to 11 have each discussed numerousgames employing the multi-symbols of the present invention in connectionwith a video monitor. FIGS. 12 and 14 illustrate various embodiments forproviding the multi-symbols or the multi-faced cards in a real tablegame. It should therefore be appreciated that any of the above-describedembodiments involving virtual or simulated cards is alternativelyperformed using the physical cards discussed in connection with FIGS. 12to 14. FIG. 12 illustrates a physical set or deck of cards 260. One ofthe cards 260 from the set or deck, namely 260 a, is also shown. Thecards 260 each include a face-down side 262 a and a face-up side 264 a.Face-down side 262 a includes any indicia associated with known playingcards for coloring or marking the face-down side of a playing card.Face-up side 264 a shows a value and suit, here the four of diamonds.

FIG. 12 also illustrates a set of physical association cards 280. One ofthe association cards 280, namely card 280 a, is also displayed. Oneside of association card 280 a, namely the face-down side 264 a,includes the same indicia as the face-up side 264 a of the displayedcard 260 a. The face-down side 264 a of the association card 280 a(i.e., the side that is initially visible to the player) is thereforelabeled the same as the face-up side 264 a of the playing card 260 a.The sides 264 a thus form the association between playing card 260 a andassociation card 280 a.

The face-up side 274 a of association card 280 a (i.e., the side of thecard that the player must activate to see) includes the hidden orinitially not displayed value and suit. In this illustration, the ten ofspades is associated via association card 280 a with the four ofdiamonds of the playing card 260 a.

In one embodiment, the set of playing cards 260 is a standard set offifty-two playing cards. The set of association cards 280 can include anassociation card 280 for each playing card 260 or an association card280 for one or more but less than all of the playing cards 260.

Referring now to FIG. 13, a gaming table 290 is illustrated. Gamingtable 290 can be for any type of playing card game including poker andblack jack including any of the variations of those games discussedherein. Various poker embodiments are illustrated in connection withFIG. 14. FIG. 13 and FIG. 15 illustrate that different associations canbe made at different times with different decks of playing cards 260.Table 290 includes the set of playing cards 260 from which individualcards 260 a to 260 e are dealt. Each of those cards is associated withone of the association cards 280 in each of the sets or decks 282, 284and 286. That is, playing card 260 a for example is associated with afirst association card 280 a in set 282, a second association card 280 ain set 284 and a third association card 280 a in set 286. The first,second and third associations can be the same or different as desired.Further, card 260 a may have an associated card in set 282 but not inset 284. In this manner, the playing card game changes depending onwhich set 282, 284 and 286 of association cards 280 is used by thedealer.

It should also be appreciated that the set of playing cards 260 is notnecessarily a deck of playing cards and therefore that different sets ofplaying cards 260 may also be used in various different playing cardgames. Further, if set 260 is a standard deck of cards, it is alsocontemplated to use multiple decks of standard cards 260 a at once as iscommonly done in blackjack and other playing card games. In that case,there would be a multitude of playing cards 260 a (e.g., multiple cardshaving a face-up side 264 a of the four of diamonds) for example. Eachof those multitude of playing cards 260 a would be associated with anassociation card 280 from any of the sets 282, 284 and 286 ofassociation cards.

In operation, the dealer can physically spread apart the sets ofassociation cards 280 so that the appropriate card can be located easilyand given to the player upon activation either as a replacement for oraddition to the player's cards dealt from set 260.

Referring now to FIG. 14, a non-inclusive list of different poker gamesthat may be played using the association cards 280 of FIGS. 12 and 13 isillustrated. Again, the list of FIG. 14 is in no way intended to limitthe scope of the invention but rather shows how the association cards280 of the present invention may be utilized in many different games andin many different ways in such games. Variation 1 of FIG. 14 reiteratesthe fact that the association cards 280 may be used in live table gamingwith any of the draw or stud poker embodiments discussed above inconnection with FIGS. 3 to 7.

Variation 2 illustrates that the association cards 280 may be used inconnection with a stud poker game. One very popular stud poker game incasinos is the game of Caribbean stud poker. In Caribbean stud poker,the player and dealer are each dealt a separate set of cards after theplayer makes an initial bet. The dealer then turns one of the dealer'scards face up. The player then decides whether to place an additionalcall bet or surrender, losing the player's initial bet. If the playermakes the call bet, the dealer reveals the rest of the dealer's cards.If the dealer does not qualify, i.e., obtain an ace, king or better, theplayer's call bet is returned. If the dealer does qualify, the player'scards are then pitted against the dealer's cards in standard pokerfashion.

The association cards 280 may be combined with the game of Caribbeanstud poker in a variety of ways. First, the player can activate thehidden or face-up side 274 of an association card 280, which isassociated with the face-up side of the player's initially dealt card,before or after placing the call bet. Alternatively or in addition tothe aforesaid, the player can activate the face up or hidden side 274 ofthe association card 280 after the dealer shows the dealer's hand. TheCaribbean stud poker embodiment also includes charging the player a feein order to activate the hidden side 274 of an associated card.

Variation 3 of FIG. 14 illustrates the popular game of Let It Ride™poker in combination with the associated cards 280 of the presentinvention. In a typical game of Let It Ride™ poker, the player needs toobtain at least a pair of tens to win. The player is dealt three cardsand makes a separate wager in association with each of the three dealtcards. The dealer places two community cards in the center of the tableface down. After the player sees the player's three cards, the playerdecides whether to withdraw a first bet one of the three or let it rideon the table. The dealer reveals a first one of the community cards.Next, the player decides whether to withdraw a second one of the threebets. The dealer than reveals a final card and the hand is scoredaccording to the rules of poker.

Let It Ride™ poker is combined with the associated cards 280 in avariety of ways. The game can be structured so that the player activatesthe face-up or hidden card 274 anytime before one or both of thecommunity cards is revealed or after the second community card isrevealed. In an alternative embodiment, one or both of the communitycards can also or alternatively be a multifunction card that isassociated with an associated card 280.

Referring now to FIG. 15, any of the embodiments disclosed herein may beplayed in a game where the association between hidden cards or symbolsis maintained for different periods of time. Each of the variationsdiscussed herein is applicable to the simulated multi-faced cards, thephysical multi-faced cards and the simulated symbols. For purposes ofdescribing the different periods of association, the term multi-symboland hidden symbol are used to describe each of the embodiments disclosedherein.

In variation one of FIG. 15, the symbol associations last for a singleplay. That association leads to a random game because the player has noability to know or memorize the association between any hidden symbolsand any displayed symbols. The player therefore guesses whether toactivate the hidden symbol. As discussed above, there may be times whenit is prudent to activate the symbol, such as in blackjack in order toobtain a more favorable blackjack total. The single play association isalso applicable to slot and any of the poker embodiments describedherein.

In variation two, the same associations are maintained for multipleplays, such as multiple hands of poker, multiple blackjack hands ormultiple spins of a slot machine reel. For example, the casino or gamingdevice can maintain the same associations for ten hands of poker. Thatcreates an interesting dynamic because it may be in the player's bestinterest to view as many hidden cards as possible early on in the tenhands so as to attempt to gain as much knowledge as possible and asquickly as possible about the associations. Maintaining the sameassociations for multiple plays enables the player to begin to learn,remember and perhaps record the associations between the displayedsymbols and the hidden symbols.

A third variation is similar to the second variation, however, theassociations last until a certain game event occurs. In one embodiment,the associations last until the player cashes out or runs out ofcredits. If the player runs out of credits, gaming device 10 in oneembodiment maintains the associations for a period of time such as oneminute, to enable the player to insert additional coins or tokens andplay the memorization game using the same associations. Display device30, 32 can display a suitable message that informs the player of thetime period and that the associations are temporarily maintained. In afurther embodiment, gaming device 10 maintains the associations as longas the player has a player tracking card inserted in gaming device 10.The maintenance of the associations serves to promote further gaming.The associations may also be maintained for other reasons in accordancewith the present invention.

In still another embodiment of the third variation of the embodiment,the event may be a gaming event such as a large progressive pay out, abonus pay out or the generation of a particular combination of symbols.For example, the associations may last in poker until a full house isdealt to either the player or the house. The duration of variation threealso presents an interesting dynamic to the player because the gamepresumably becomes more favorable to the player the longer the playerplays. This fact may encourage players to continue wagering, which istypically desirable by a gaming establishment.

Variation four of FIG. 15 is a long term association in which theassociations are fixed at least for the foreseeable future. The longterm fixed associations can be made for example, as long as thatparticular game is installed in a gaming terminal, as long as aparticular version of software is installed in gaming device memory 40or for a period of one year at a gaming table at a casino. Gamesemploying fixed long term associations are structured under theassumption that the player has knowledge of the associations before theplayer begins play. The player may have a crib sheet or other type ofrecording device that lists the associations. Even still, the playermust use skill to either remember an association or apply it correctly.Thus the fixed long term game adds skill to the random and/or strategygames of poker, blackjack and slots as does the shorter termassociations discussed above in connection with variations two andthree.

Central Determination

Referring now to FIGS. 16 and 17, any of the lengths of the associationsdescribed in connection with FIG. 15 may be implemented in a poker gamethat uses a central determination method of developing outcomes. Centraldetermination gaming systems are generally known. Many such systems linka plurality of individual gaming terminals via one or more communicationlinks to a central processor or computing system. When a player plays agame on one of the gaming terminals, the game outcome is communicatedfrom the central system. The outcome is displayed to the player in theform of symbols that have been predetermined to yield the outcome.

The central determination method is completely random, just likemechanically generated outcomes. The difference occurs in that withcentral determination, the outcome is generated randomly independent ofthe associated combination of symbols presented to the player to yieldthe outcome. With mechanical systems on the other hand, the combinationof symbols actually generates the outcome.

There are a number of advantages to providing centralized determinationof game outcomes at individual terminals. Central production or controlcan assist a casino or other entity in maintaining proper records,controlling gaming, reducing and preventing cheating or electronic orother errors, reducing or eliminating win-loss volatility and the like.

Certain central determination gaming systems maintain one or morepredetermined pools or sets of game outcomes. Other centraldetermination gaming systems maintain one or more predetermined pools orsets of random number seeds. The use of random number seeds, in general,reduces the computational load on the central processor of the centraldetermination gaming systems. In those systems, when a player makes awager on one of the gaming terminals, the central system selects a seedfor determining the game outcome, marks the selected seed as used andcommunicates the selected seed to that individual gaming terminal. Theindividual game terminal uses the seed to determine the predeterminedgame combination of symbols.

Central determination is predicated upon providing the player with acombination of symbols that appears to generate the generated outcome.For games of pure luck, such symbol generation is facilitated readilybecause the player has no control. With games like poker however, whichrequire a degree of strategy and decision making, providing the symbolsnecessary to generate a previously, randomly determined outcome canbecome tricky.

Draw poker can yield some tricky situations for central determination.Suppose the player's outcome is generated to be four aces. The playermust receive therefore four aces. Suppose the game deals the player twoaces initially. One ace is the ace of spades and the other is the ace ofdiamonds. Suppose also that the other three cards are spades. The playermay decide to discard the ace of diamonds attempting to achieve a flush.With a single deck, four aces is now impossible.

The multi-faced cards or multiple decks of the present invention remedythe above-described situation through the use of two decks of cards.Here, even if the player discards the ace of diamonds, the game canreplenish the player's hand with three additional aces from a seconddeck. Importantly, there needs to be enough additional cards, inrelation to the total number of cards in the player's hand, to cover anycontingency.

FIGS. 16 and 17 show one example of a draw poker game having randomlypredetermined outcomes, which may be determined by a processor 38 ofgaming device 10 or over a data network by a central processor. The drawpoker game is displayed on one of the display devices 30 or 32 of gamingdevice 10.

In the example, the player is to receive four aces, a insult that hasbeen randomly predetermined. Gaming device 10 displays the winning cardsinitially to the player on display device 30 or 32. The four aces 300 a,300 b, 300 c and 300 e are drawn from a single deck 300 of cards alongwith a fifth card 300 d, the king of diamonds.

Displaying the winning hand initially in a draw poker game prevents theplayer from keeping a hand that is not the predetermined. For example,where four aces are randomly predetermined for the player but only twoaces are dealt initially, the player could decide to keep the initiallydealt hand, precluding the predetermined result from occurring. Such acase is a realistic possibility if the player, for example, receives afull house of, that is, the other three cards dealt besides the pair ofaces are of the same value. By dealing the winning hand initially,gaming device 10 ensures that the player receives the randomlypredetermined outcome if the player keeps the initial deal and forgoesany draw cards.

FIG. 16 provides an audio, visual or audiovisual message 302 to theplayer to press the keep input 304 to keep the initially dealt hand orto press one or more of the cards 300 a to 300 e to discard same. Asillustrated in FIG. 16, the player foolishly or mistakenly presses anddiscards the ace of clubs 300 e. If the game used only the single deck300, the game would not have the ability to provide an additional ace tocomplete the player's predetermined outcome, namely, four aces. Itshould be appreciated that no net negative effect is produced if theplayer chooses to discard the king of diamonds, the game in thesituation can simply provide another can not from deck 300 withoutdisrupting the random by predetermined result.

FIG. 17 illustrates that even though the player discarded a winning cardin FIG. 16, because the game uses the two decks 300 and 310, the gamecan draw the fourth winning card 310 e from the second deck 310 tocomplete the player's predetermined winning hand. Audio, visual oraudiovisual message 306 informs the player of the player's win.

In an “of a kind” type win, such as four aces, the replacement card,e.g., card 310 e can be the same card (suit and value) as the discardedcard, e.g., card 300 e, in this case, the ace of spades. Otherwise, thereplacement card could be another ace, such as the ace of diamonds,clubs or hearts. In such a case, the player's winning hand would havetwo of the same card, i.e., two Aces of Diamonds, two Aces of Clubs ortwo Aces of Hearts. It should therefore be appreciated that the playershould know that the game is using two decks 300 and 310 of cards,otherwise the game will not make sense to the player.

In a win such as a straight flush, the replacement card has to be thesame (suit and value) as the discarded card. Here again, the playershould understand that the game uses two decks, otherwise the playerwill be confused when the player receives the same card that the playerhas just discarded. Accordingly, FIGS. 16 and 17 display an audio,visual or audiovisual message 308 informing the player that the game isa two deck draw poker game.

The central determination associations do not require player input foractivation. Gaming device 10 or a central processor controlling samecalls upon the additional card when needed. The game may or may notinform the player that multiple decks are being used, however, it isdesirable in one respect to inform the player of such so that the playeris not confused when the player discards two aces and receives threemore.

While the present invention has been described in connection with whatis presently considered to be the most practical and preferredembodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited tothe disclosed embodiments, but on the contrary is intended to covervarious modifications and equivalent arrangements included within thespirit and scope of the claims. It is thus to be understood thatmodifications and variations in the present invention may be madewithout departing from the novel aspects of this invention as defined inthe claims, and that this application is to be limited only by the scopeof the claims.

1. A deck of cards for playing poker, the deck comprising: a pluralityof playing cards, each playing card having a first value and suitcombination drawn from a first set of value and suit combinations and asecond different value and suit combination associated with the firstcombination, the second combination drawn from a second set of value andsuit combinations.
 2. The deck of claim 1, which is a virtual deck ofplaying cards.
 3. The deck of claim 1, which is a physical deck ofplaying cards.
 4. The deck of claim 1, wherein at least one of: (i) theplurality of playing cards; (ii) the first set of value and suitcombinations; and (iii) the second set of value and suit combinationsincludes fifty-two different value and suit combinations or a multiplethereof.
 5. The deck of claim 1, which includes a third value and suitcombination associated with the first combination, the third combinationdrawn from a third set of value and suit combinations.
 6. The deck ofclaim 1, which includes a third value and suit combination associatedwith the second combination, the third combination drawn from a thirdset of value and suit combinations.
 7. The deck of claim 1, wherein theassociation between the first value and suit combination and the secondvalue and suit combination has a duration selected from the groupconsisting of: (i) randomly determined upon each play of the cards; (ii)fixed for a predetermined number of plays of the cards; (iii) fixeduntil an event occurs; and (iv) fixed permanently.
 8. A card for playingpoker, the card comprising: a first value and suit combination drawnfrom a first set of value and suit combinations; and a second differentvalue and suit combination drawn from a second set of value and suitcombinations associated with the first value and suit combination over aduration of play of a game using the card.
 9. The card of claim 8,wherein the duration of play is selected from the group consisting of:(i) a single play; (ii) a predetermined plurality of plays; (iii) arandomly determined plurality of plays; (iv) play until an event occurs;and (v) fixed for all plays using the card.
 10. The card of claim 9,wherein the event is selected from the group consisting of: a cashout,an elapse of a given amount of time after the cashout, and a removal ofa player tracking card from a gaming device employing the poker card.11. A card for playing poker, the card comprising; a first value andsuit combination; and a second different value and suit combination, thesecond combination associated with the first combination over a durationof play of a game using the card.
 12. The card of claim 11, wherein thefirst and second combinations are drawn from different sets of value andsuit combinations.
 13. The card of claim 11, wherein the duration ofplay is selected from the group consisting of: (i) a single play; (ii) apredetermined plurality of plays; (iii) a randomly determined pluralityof plays; (iv) play until an event occurs; and (v) fixed for all playsusing the card.
 14. The card of claim 13, wherein the duration of playis selected from the group consisting of: (i) a single play; (ii) apredetermined plurality of plays; (iii) a randomly determined pluralityof plays; (iv) play until an event occurs; and (v) fixed for all playsusing the card.
 15. The card of claim 11, which is used in a game playedvia a computer network or via a computer storage device.
 16. A pokergame comprising: at least one playing card of a deck of cards that areeither dealt to a player with face showing or dealt face down and laterrevealed to show face, the face having a first value and suitcombination selected from a first set of value and suit combinations; anoption provided to the player for the card to select to activate asecond value and suit combination that is associated with the firstvalue and suit combination over a duration of play of the poker game;and a poker evaluation using the second value and suit combination. 17.The poker game of claim 16, wherein the poker evaluation is made in lieuof an evaluation based on the first value and suit combination.
 18. Thepoker game of claim 16, wherein the poker evaluation is basedadditionally on the first combination.
 19. The poker game of claim 16,wherein the poker evaluation is for a poker game selected from the groupconsisting of: draw poker, stud poker, Caribbean poker and multi-handpoker.
 20. The poker game of claim 16, wherein the duration lasts for atleast one hand of poker.
 21. The poker game of claim 16, wherein theduration lasts until the player cashes out or depletes the player'scredits, until a period of time elapses after the player cashes out oruntil the player removes a player tracking card from a gaming deviceemploying the game.
 22. The poker game of claim 16, wherein the durationis permanent.
 23. The poker game of claim 16, wherein the option is afirst option and which includes a second option for the player to pay tosee the second value and suit combination without activating the secondcombination.
 24. The poker game of claim 16, which is provided via aformat selected from the group consisting of: a video machine, a tablegame, a database, a computer storage device, a computer network and aninternet.
 25. The poker game of claim 16, wherein at least one of thefirst and second sets of combinations is a deck of playing cards. 26.The poker game of claim 16, which includes at least one hint concerningthe association between the first and second combinations provided tothe player.
 27. A wagering gaming device comprising: a plurality ofsymbols including a first symbol displayed to a player, the first symbolpart of a first combination of symbols that can be evaluated todetermine whether the first combination yields a win for the player; theplurality of symbols also including a second symbol predetermined to beassociated with the first symbol, the second symbol not displayedinitially to the player when the first symbol is generated; an optionfor the player to select to activate the second symbol to produce asecond combination of symbols; and a game evaluation based on the secondcombination of symbols.
 28. The wagering game of claim 27, which isselected from the group consisting of: poker, blackjack and slot. 29.The wagering game of claim 27, wherein the first symbol is part of a setof symbols, and wherein at least one other symbol in the set has anassociated symbol that is not displayed initially when the other symbolis generated.
 30. The wagering game of claim 27, wherein the gameevaluation using the second set of symbols is made in lieu of anevaluation based on the first set of symbols.
 31. The wagering game ofclaim 27, wherein the second symbol is associated with the first symbolfor a number of game plays selected from the group consisting of: asingle game play, multiple game plays and all game plays.
 32. Thewagering game of claim 27, wherein the first combination of symbolsincludes a plurality of first symbols having initially hidden associatedsecond symbols, the option enabling the player to select to display upto each of the associated second symbols.
 33. The wagering game of claim27, wherein the first combination of symbols includes a plurality offirst symbols having initially hidden associated second symbols, theoption enabling the player to select to display less than all of theassociated second symbols.
 34. The wagering game of claim 27, whereinthe first symbol is displayed on a video monitor that operates with atouch screen so that the player can touch the first symbol to displaythe second symbol.
 35. The wagering game of claim 27, wherein the firstsymbol is displayed on a slot machine reel, the option provided when thefirst symbol appears on an active payline.
 36. The wagering game ofclaim 27, which is a blackjack game in which the game evaluationincludes a value of the second symbol being added to a player'sblackjack total in combination with a value of the associated firstsymbol.
 37. The wagering game of claim 27, which is a blackjack game inwhich the game evaluation includes a value of the second symbol beingadded to a player's blackjack total instead of a value of the associatedfirst symbol.
 38. The wagering game of claim 37, wherein the option iscontingent upon whether the value of the first symbol causes theblackjack total to exceed twenty-one.
 39. The wagering game of claim 27,which is a poker game in which the player competes against a gamingestablishment.
 40. The wagering game of claim 27, which is a poker gamein which the player competes against at least one other player.
 41. Thewagering game of claim 40, wherein the option is a first option andwhich includes a second option for the player to pay to see the secondsymbol without activating the second symbol or second combination. 42.The wagering game of claim 27, which is provided via a format selectedfrom the group consisting of: a video machine, a table game, a database,a computer storage device, a computer network and an internet.
 43. Apoker game comprising: a first set including a plurality of differentcards, each card having a value and suit; a second set of cards, atleast one card of the second set having a first value and suit displayedon one side and a second value and suit displayed on the other side ofthe card; and an option in which a player who is dealt one of the cardsfrom the first set having a value and suit corresponding to the firstvalue and suit of the card of the second set can select to activate thesecond value and suit of the card of the second set.
 44. The poker gameof claim 43, which includes a poker evaluation based on at least one ofthe first value and suit and the second value and suit when the playerexercises the option.
 45. The poker game of claim 47, wherein the secondset of cards is used for a duration selected from the group consistingof: a single hand, a plurality of hands, until the player cashes out orstops playing, and for all hands.
 46. The poker game of claim 45,wherein the event is selected from the group consisting of: a cashout,an elapse of a given amount of time after the cashout, and a removal ofa player tracking card from a gaming device employing the poker game.47. The poker game of claim 43, wherein the first value and suit of thecard of the second set is the same as the second value and suit.
 48. Thepoker game of claim 43, wherein each of the cards of the second set ofcards includes first and second value and suit combinations.
 49. Thepoker game of claim 43, which includes a third set of cards, used inplace of the second set of cards, the third set of cards including atleast one card having a first value and suit combination on one side anda second value and suit combination on the other side of the card. 50.The poker game of claim 43, wherein at least one of the first and secondsets of cards is a physical set of cards.
 51. A method of operating awagering game comprising the steps of: generating a first symbol for aplayer; providing an opportunity for the player to remember that thefirst symbol is predetermined to be associated with a second symbol forat least a number of game plays; and providing an option to the playerto have the second symbol used in a decision for the wagering game. 52.The method of claim 51, wherein generating the first symbol includesperforming an action selected from the group consisting of: spinning atleast one slot machine reel and dealing at least one playing card. 53.The method of claim 52, wherein the option includes using the secondsymbol instead of the first symbol in the gaming decision.
 54. Themethod of claim 52, wherein the gaming decision includes determining ifthe second symbol alone or in combination with at least one other symbolyields an award to the player.
 55. The method of claim 51, which isprovided via a data network.
 56. The method of claim 55, wherein thedate network includes an internet.
 57. The method of claim 51, which isprovided on a memory storage device.
 58. A gaming device comprising: aprocessor utilizing an outcome determination scheme, wherein an outcomeincluding a first symbol is predetermined and then symbols to illustratethe outcome are displayed; a game involving a player's selection betweenat least two of the symbols; and at least two sets of symbols, at leastone of the symbols of each of the sets being a first symbol, wherein oneof the first symbols from one of the sets can be generated and displayedto illustrate the predetermined outcome after the player selects todiscard another one of the first symbols from another one of the sets.59. The gaming device of claim 58, which includes a poker game, whereinthe sets are decks of cards and the first symbol is a first card andwherein multiple first cards from multiple decks are generated toillustrate a predetermined poker outcome.
 60. The gaming device of claim59, wherein the poker game is a draw poker game, wherein each of thecards of the predetermined outcome, including the first card, isdisplayed to the player prior to the player's input to keep or discardone or more of the cards.
 61. The gaming device of claim 58, which isprovided via a format selected from the group consisting of: a videomachine, a table game, a database, a computer storage device, a computernetwork and an internet.
 62. A gaming device comprising: a processorutilizing an outcome determination scheme, wherein a predeterminedoutcome is generated and then symbols to illustrate the outcome aredisplayed; a game involving a player's selection between at least two ofthe symbols; and at least two sets of symbols, wherein one or moresymbols from two or more of the sets of symbols are used to illustratethe predetermined outcome.
 63. The gaming device of claim 62, whereintwo of the same symbols from two or more of the sets of symbols are usedto illustrate the predetermined outcome.
 64. The gaming device of claim62, which includes a poker game, wherein the sets are decks of cards,and wherein one or more card from two or more of the decks is used toillustrate the predetermined outcome.
 65. The gaming device of claim 64,wherein the poker game is a draw poker game, wherein each of the cardsof the predetermined outcome is generated from one of the decks anddisplayed to the player prior to the player's input to keep or discardone or more of the cards, and wherein at least one card from another oneof the decks is used to illustrate the outcome when the player discardsfor a draw card, at least one initially displayed card belonging to thepredetermined outcome.